The Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka on Sunday fixed May 30 to hold the next hearing on the charge framing in the Niko graft case against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and 10 others.
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the special court passed the order at his makeshift court set up
in the newly constructed Building No.2 of Keraniganj prison. Earlier, advocates Masud Ahmed Talukder, Syed Joynul Abedin Mesba and Zia Uddin Zia appealed to the court seeking deferment of the charge hearing in the case saying that sick Khaleda Zia is undergoing treatment at the BSMMU Hospital. She will come to the court for charge hearing in the case after her recovery from illness, they added.
On December 9, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Tejgaon Model Police Station over charges that Khaleda Zia and 10 others abused power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko, during her tenure as Prime Minister between 2001 and 2006. The deal allegedly caused a loss of Tk 137.77 billion to the state showing three gas fields abandoned.
On May 5, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog ACC submitted the charge sheet of the case against Khaleda Zia and 10 others in the graft case.
